1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an optical transmission line in which a plurality of optical fibers differing from each other in terms of a transmission characteristic are connected together, and a method of constructing such an optical transmission line.
2. Related Background Art
Optical transmission lines employed as a medium for transmitting signal light in optical communication systems are required to have a small cumulative chromatic dispersion and low nonlinearity in order to restrain the signal light from deteriorating its waveform. Known as one satisfying such a demand is an optical transmission line in which the polarity of chromatic dispersion changes between positive and negative along the longitudinal axis (see, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,473,548). A technique for providing the positive and negative chromatic dispersion parts in such an optical transmission line with different colors and markings in order to distinguish them from each other has been known (see, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,611,016).
When constructing an optical transmission line by connecting a plurality of optical fibers differing from each other in terms of a transmission characteristic such as chromatic dispersion, it is not easy to determine whether or not the optical fibers to be connected can constitute an optical transmission line having a desirable characteristic. When connecting an optical fiber to one which has already been placed, in particular, it is practically impossible to see the longitudinal transmission characteristic distribution of the placed optical fiber.